Image forming apparatus

ABSTRACT

A multifunction peripheral includes an answerer identifying unit, a character data extracting unit, a correct/incorrect determining unit, a question data extracting unit, a question sheet image data creating unit, and an image formation control unit. The correct/incorrect determining unit determines answers on a question sheet as correct or incorrect based on characters extracted by the character data extracting unit. The question data extracting unit extracts a plurality of questions from question data stored in a storage unit in accordance with the ratio of correct answers determined by the correct/incorrect determining unit, for each of answerers identified by the answerer identifying unit. The question sheet image data creating unit creates image data of the question sheet with the questions, which are extracted from the question data by the question data extracting unit, arranged thereon.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No.2016-193831, which was filed on Sep. 30, 2016, and is incorporatedherein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus.

Image forming apparatuses, which are typified by multifunctionperipherals, read an image of an original document by using an imagereading unit, and then emit light to a photoreceptor in an image formingunit based on the read image to form an electrostatic latent image onthe photoreceptor. Then, the image forming apparatuses apply chargedtoner onto the formed electrostatic latent image to make it into avisible image that is in turn transferred onto a sheet of paper andfixed, and then output the sheet.

With the image forming apparatuses, a technique of forming andoutputting an image of questions used in learning activities has beenconventionally known.

A conventional question making apparatus includes an input means, aninternal storage means, an external storage means, a CPU, a displaymeans, and a print means. The question making apparatus processes aninstruction, which is input through the input means, in the CPU,selectively displays questions stored in the storage means on thedisplay means, and prints desired questions using the print means. Afeature of the question making apparatus is to store codes for settingup the output conditions required to make questions in the internalstorage means. The output conditions include, for example, time foranswering the questions, an amount of questions measurable by the numberof pages, allocation of points, answers and explanations, and tips.

A typical individual worksheet creating system includes a questiondatabase that stores question data classified by a predeterminedclassification method and stored with target indexes, and a datagenerating means that generates learner-specific worksheet data used tocreate worksheets for individual learners. The learner-specificworksheet data includes the question data selected from the questiondatabase according to the learners' past record data which aresummarized for each target index.

SUMMARY

The image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure can forman image of a question sheet. The image forming apparatus includes animage forming unit, an answerer identifying unit, an image reading unit,a character data extracting unit, a storage unit, a correct/incorrectdetermining unit, a question data extracting unit, a question sheetimage data creating unit, and an image formation control unit. The imageforming unit forms an image based on image data. The answereridentifying unit identifies an answerer who fills in answers on aquestion sheet. The image reading unit reads image data of the questionsheet with the answers filled in by the answerer. The character dataextracting unit extracts characters, by means of optical characterrecognition (OCR), from the image data of the question sheet read by theimage reading unit. The storage unit stores question data including aplurality of questions of different difficulty levels. Thecorrect/incorrect determining unit determines the answers on thequestion sheet as correct or incorrect based on the characters extractedby the character data extracting unit. The question data extracting unitextracts a plurality of questions from the question data stored in thestorage unit in accordance with the ratio of correct answers determinedby the correct/incorrect determining unit, for each answerer identifiedby the answerer identifying unit. The question sheet image data creatingunit creates image data of the question sheet with the questions, whichare extracted from the question data by the question data extractingunit, arranged thereon. The image formation control unit performscontrol operations to form an image using the image forming unit basedon the image data of the question sheet created by the question sheetimage data creating unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic external view of a multifunction peripheral towhich an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the multifunctionperipheral shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of data stored in a hard disk.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a control unit.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a process of creating and printing a questionsheet using the multifunction peripheral.

FIG. 6 shows an example display screen used to enter personal ID.

FIG. 7 shows an example question sheet created.

FIG. 8 shows the question sheet with answers filled in.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process after the learner has filled in theanswers on the question sheet.

FIG. 10 shows an example display screen prompting for correction of animproperly written answer.

FIG. 11 shows an example display screen prompting for reload of thequestion sheet.

FIG. 12 shows the question sheet printed with another questionextracted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below. FIG. 1is a schematic external view of a multifunction peripheral 11 to whichan image forming apparatus according to the embodiment of the presentdisclosure is applied. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing theconfiguration of the multifunction peripheral 11 shown in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the multifunction peripheral 11 has aplurality of functions relating to image processing, such as a copyingfunction, a printer function, and a facsimile function. Themultifunction peripheral 11 includes a control unit 12, an operationunit 13, an image reading unit 14, an image forming unit 15, paper feedcassettes 16, a hard disk 17, a network interface unit 18 used toconnect with a network (not shown), and a manual feed tray 23.

The control unit 12 controls the entire multifunction peripheral 11, andincludes a main storage memory 19 that temporarily stores data. Theoperation unit 13 includes a touch panel type display screen 21 thatserves as a display unit displaying information submitted from themultifunction peripheral 11 and entries made by users. The operationunit 13 accepts entry of information relating to image formation, suchas image forming conditions including the number of prints and gradationdegrees, from users. The image reading unit 14 includes an auto documentfeeder (ADF) 22 serving as a document transporting device thattransports an original document placed on a loading position to areading position. The image reading unit 14 reads images of the originaldocument loaded in the ADF 22 or placed on a document table (not shown).Each of the paper feed cassettes 16 can hold a plurality of sheets ofpaper. The manual feed tray 23 allows users to manually load sheets ofpaper. The image forming unit 15 forms an image on paper transportedfrom the paper feed cassettes 16 or the manual feed tray 23 based onimage data of the original document read by the image reading unit 14 orimage data transmitted via the network. The hard disk 17 stores datarelating to image formation, such as transmitted image data and inputimage forming conditions.

The multifunction peripheral 11 is connectable to various externaldevices through the network interface unit 18. Specific examples of theexternal devices connectable to the multifunction peripheral 11 via thenetwork (not shown) include a computer, a tablet terminal, an externalmemory device, a server, and cloud computing.

Next, configuration of data stored in the hard disk 17 will bedescribed. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of the data stored in the harddisk 17. Referring to FIG. 3, the hard disk 17 has a storage area 26that holds learner ID data 27 a that includes learners' IDs assigned toindividual learners who answer questions, learning course data 27 b thatincludes courses taken by the learners, learning history data 27 c thatmanages the information of the learners' learning histories, questiondata 27 d that includes questions categorized by levels of thequestions, in other words, difficulty levels of the questions or thesize of question sentences, standard time data 27 e that includesstandard times required to answer the questions, reference material data27 f that is referred to for checking and explaining the answers, andanswer data 27 g that includes answers associated with the questions inthe question data 27 d.

The learner ID data 27 a is data of personal IDs assigned to individuallearners. The learning course data 27 b includes learning courses chosenby learners and assigned by teachers. The learning history data 27 c isdata of learning records of individual learners in the past, includingthe dates, times, and durations of time the learners answered thequestions in the past, the learning courses chosen, and thecorrect/incorrect results. The learning course data 27 b and learninghistory data 27 c are registered in association with the learner ID data27 a. The question data 27 d contains a plurality of questions preparedfor various levels and organized by, for example, the number ofcharacters per question, and is stored in the hard disk 17. The standardtimes in the standard time data 27 e are, for example, average timesrequired for general learners to answer the questions. The data 27 a todata 27 g are used to extract questions, to check the answers, and toadd explanations.

Next, the configuration of the control unit 12 will be described. FIG. 4is a block diagram showing the configuration of the control unit 12.Referring to FIG. 4, the control unit 12 includes an answereridentifying unit 31, a character data extracting unit 32, acorrect/incorrect determining unit 33, a question data extracting unit34, a question sheet image data forming unit 35, and an image formationcontrol unit 36. The answerer identifying unit 31 identifies theanswerer who fills in answers on a question sheet. The character dataextracting unit 32 extracts character data by means of OCR from imagedata of the question sheet read by the image reading unit 14. Thecorrect/incorrect determining unit 33 determines the answers filled inthe question sheet as correct or incorrect based on the charactersextracted by the character data extracting unit 32. The question dataextracting unit 34 extracts a plurality of questions from the questiondata stored in the hard disk 17 in accordance with the ratio of correctanswers determined by the correct/incorrect determining unit 33 forevery answerer identified by the answerer identifying unit 31. Thequestion sheet image data forming unit 35 creates image data of thequestion sheet with the questions, which are extracted from the questiondata by the question data extracting unit 34, arranged thereon. Theimage formation control unit 36 performs control operations to form animage using the image forming unit 15 based on the image data of thequestion sheet created by the question sheet image data creating unit35. The configuration of these units will be described later in detail.

A process of printing a question sheet using the multifunctionperipheral 11 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the process inwhich the multifunction peripheral 11 creates and prints a questionsheet. In this example, the learner's personal ID is the learner's name“XXX”, the learning time is 60 minutes, and the degree of fatigue is70%.

Referring to FIG. 5, the learner enters his/her personal ID through thedisplay screen 21 of the operation unit 13. In response to that, theanswerer identifying unit 31 accepts the entry of the personal ID (stepS11 in FIG. 5, hereinafter “step” is omitted).

FIG. 6 shows an example of the display screen 21 used to enter thepersonal ID. Referring to FIG. 6, the display screen 21 displays astatement 41 “Question sheet creating mode”, a message 42 “Enter yourpersonal ID, learning time, and fatigue degree”, a personal ID inputfield 43 a in which personal ID is input, a learning time input field 43b in which learning time is input, a fatigue degree input field 43 c inwhich a learner's current fatigue degree is input, and an enter key 44labeled “OK” and proceeding to the next screen with a press.

The learner, who may be a cram school student or regular school studentin this example, enters his/her personal ID, learning time, and degreeof fatigue at the present time into the personal ID input field 43 a,learning time input field 43 b, and fatigue degree input field 43 c,respectively. Then, the answerer identifying unit 31 accepts the entryof the personal ID, learning time, and fatigue degree. In this example,the learning time and fatigue degree are input by numerical values, forexample, 60 minutes and 70%. The fatigue degree is measured on apercentage basis, and is expressed as 100% when the learner is free fromfatigue. The learner expresses his/her feeling of fatigue by a numericalvalue upon requesting a question sheet. Then, the answerer identifyingunit 31 checks the personal ID against the learner ID data 27 a storedin the hard disk 17, or performs other actions to identify the learnerassociated with the personal ID as an answerer (S12).

It is subsequently determined whether an answering flag, which isprogrammed to be set after the learner outputs a question sheet, is set(S13). If it is determined that the answering flag has not been set (YESin S13), the question data extracting unit 34 extracts various types ofdata from the hard disk 17 based on the identified personal ID data andthe other data (S14). Specifically, the question data extracting unit 34extracts a learner ID associated with the input personal ID from thelearner ID data 27 a. Then, the question data extracting unit 34extracts a learning course and learning history, which are associatedwith the learner ID extracted from the learner ID data 27 a, from thelearning course data 27 b and learning history data 27 c. In accordancewith the contents of the learning course and learning history, thequestion data extracting unit 34 extracts a plurality of questions fromthe question data 27 d based on the contents of the associated referencematerial in the reference material data 27 f. The questions areextracted from the question data 27 d in accordance with the contents ofthe associated learning history, the level of the learner stored in thehard disk 17, the standard times required to answer the questions, thelearning time input in the learning time input field 43 b, and someother factors.

With the questions extracted from the question data 27 d, the questionsheet image data forming unit 35 creates question sheet image data,which is image data of a question sheet (S15). The image data is createdsuch that the questions, which have been extracted from the questiondata 27 d, are arranged with a minimum blank area on the question sheet.The image formation control unit 36 controls the image forming unit 15to form an image of the created question sheet image data and print iton paper (S16). In this manner, the question sheet is printed. Themultifunction peripheral 11 sets an answering flag at the completion ofprinting on the assumption that the learner has started answering thequestions (S17).

FIG. 7 shows an example of the question sheet created. Referring to FIG.7, the question sheet 51 includes a statement 52 “Question sheet”, aname field 53 in which the name of the answerer, that is a learner, isfilled in, and three question sections 54 a, 54 b, 54 c. Each of thequestion sections 54 a to 54 c is composed of a question sentence ofmore than one line. Under the question section 54 a, an answer section55 a is provided to be filled with an answer to the question sentence,and an answering time field 56 a is provided at the upper right withrespect to the answer section 55 a to be filled with the answering timetaken by the answerer. In like manner, an answer section 55 b isprovided under the question section 54 b, and an answering time field 56b is provided at the upper right with respect to the answer section 55b. In addition, an answer section 55 c is provided under the questionsection 54 c, and an answering time field 56 c is provided at the upperright with respect to the answer section 55 c.

The question sheet 51 in this example is provided with the threequestion sections 54 a to 54 c. Three questions in the three questionsections 54 a to 54 c are extracted from the question data 27 d so thatall the questions fit within the input learning time frame in accordancewith the level of the identified answerer and the extracted varioustypes of data. Before extraction of the questions, the standard time isrevised in accordance with the input fatigue degree. The question sheet51 has a blank area 57 under the question section 54 c. If anotherquestion is printed in the blank area 57, the answerer may not have timeto answer the question in consideration of the input learning time,fatigue degree, and other factors, and consequently there is a highpossibility that the printed question may go to waste.

If it is determined that the answering flag is set in S13 (YES in S13),it is determined whether multifunction peripheral 11 has accepted aninstruction to redo the process from the beginning through the operationunit 13 or the other units (S18). If the redo instruction has beenaccepted (YES in S18), the process goes back to S11 to start the processfrom the beginning. If, on the other hand, the redo instruction has notbeen accepted, the process is just terminated (NO in S18). This meansthat the process ends without creating the question sheet.

The learner fills out the printed question sheet 51 within the learningtime. While filling in the answers, the learner writes the answeringtimes required to answer the questions in the answering time fields 56 ato 56 c, respectively. Then, the learner submits the question sheet 51to a marker, or more specifically a teacher or an instructor. Theteacher or instructor uses the multifunction peripheral 11 to mark theanswers on the question sheet 51 in the manner that will be describedlater. The answering flag set in S17 is cleared by inputting aninstruction or the like through the operation unit 13.

FIG. 8 shows the question sheet 51 with the answers filled in. Referringto FIG. 8, the name field 53 is filled in with the name “XXX”. Theanswer sections 55 a to 55 c are filled in with answers 58 a, 58 b, 58c, respectively, by the learner. The answering time fields 56 a to 56 care filled in with answering times 59 a, 59 b, 59 c, which are requiredto figure out the answers 58 a to 58 c, respectively. The answeringtimes 59 a to 59 c are times that are actually measured by the learnerwhile answering the questions.

Next, a description will be made about a process after the learner hasfilled in the answers 58 a to 58 c on the question sheet 51. FIG. 9 is aflowchart of the process after the learner has filled in the answers 58a to 58 c on the question sheet 51. At this point, the question sheet 51is supposed to have been submitted to a teacher from the learner.

Referring to FIG. 9, the teacher loads the question sheet into the ADF22. Then, the teacher manipulates the operation unit 13 to enter apersonal ID, in this example, the personal ID of the answerer “XXX”. Themultifunction peripheral 11 accepts the entry of personal ID (S21).

Once the multifunction peripheral 11 detects the press of a start key onthe operation unit 13 to start reading images, reading of the questionsheet 51 starts (S22). Specifically, the ADF 22 transports the loadedquestion sheet 51 to the image reading position. Then, the image readingunit 14 reads the image of the question sheet 51. The read image isshown in FIG. 8.

Next, the character data extracting unit 32 extracts character data, bymeans of OCR, from the image data of the question sheet 51 read by theimage reading unit 14. Specifically, the character data of the answers58 a to 58 c filled in the answer sections 55 a to 55 c and thecharacter data of the answering times 59 a to 59 c filled in theanswering time fields 56 a to 56 c are extracted (S23).

In this extraction step, it is determined whether the answers 58 a to 58c are properly written on the question sheet 51 (S24). Improperlywritten answers cannot be extracted as character data by the OCR, andalso the answers 58 a to 58 c written partially outside of the answersections 55 a to 55 c, respectively, cannot be properly recognized ascharacters by the OCR. If the answers 58 a to 58 c are improperlywritten (YES in S24), the multifunction peripheral 11 prompts forcorrection of the impropriety and accepts the correction (S25).Specifically, the display screen 21 displays a screen that shows animproperly written answer and prompts the teacher to correct it usingthe touch panel of the display screen 21.

FIG. 10 is an example display screen 21 prompting for correction of theimpropriety of the answer. Referring to FIG. 10, the display screen 21includes a message 61 “The answer in the answer section is improperlywritten. Correct it.”, a representation 62 of the answer in the answersection 55 b, an enter key 63 labeled “OK” and confirms completion ofcorrection by being pressed. The teacher manipulates the touch paneltype display screen 21 to make a correction, for example, by putting theanswer out of the answer section 55 b back into the answer section 55 b,and presses the enter key 63. The impropriety is corrected in thismanner.

After the improperly written answer is corrected as described above,character data is extracted from the written answers, and the characterdata associated with the answers 58 a to 58 c is subjected tocorrect/incorrect determination (S26). The answers are checked bydetermining whether the character data extracted from the answers 58 ato 58 c contains characters corresponding to the answers in the answerdata 27 g associated with the questions extracted from the question data27 d. If necessary, scoring is performed. Specifically, points allocatedto each question are added up based on the results of thecorrect/incorrect determination. In addition, the character dataextracting unit 32 also extracts blanks in the answer sections 55 a to55 c. In other words, it is determined whether the answer sections 55 ato 55 c have been filled out. In this example, since all the answersections 55 a to 55 c have been filled out, it is determined that thereare no blanks in the answer sections 55 a to 55 c.

The results of correct/incorrect determination are stored in the harddisk 17 (S27). Specifically, the results are stored in the learninghistory data 27 c. The stored correct/incorrect determination results ofthe question sections 54 a to 54 c will be taken into consideration toextract questions the next time.

In addition, image data is created with the correct/incorrectdetermination results. Specifically, the correct/incorrect determinationresults are added in the form of a correct mark and incorrect mark tothe read image data, and the image is formed. The formed image issubsequently printed out (S28).

At this point, it is determined whether learning time is still left, inother words, whether time remains from the input learning time (S29).The remaining time is determined based on the difference between thelearning time input in the learning time input field 43 b on the displayscreen 21 shown in FIG. 6 and the time when the correct/incorrectdetermination is completed. If it is determined that learning time stillremains (YES in S29), an inquiry for another question is issued (S30).

If the multifunction peripheral 11 receives a request to prepare anotherquestion (YES in S30), a question is extracted again based on thecorrect/incorrect determination results and the size of blank area, andan image of the question is formed (S31). The request for anotherquestion is also made through the operation unit 13.

Questions are extracted from the question data 27 d again in accordancewith the ratio of the correct answers. The following is a descriptionabout exemplary extraction of the question from the question data 27 din accordance with the correct answer ratio. When the correct answerratio is 100%, questions that are more difficult than the questionsanswered in the created question sheet are extracted from the questiondata 27 d and increased by 50%. When the correct answer ratio is 70%,questions that are more difficult than the questions answered in thecreated question sheet are extracted from the question data 27 d andincreased by 10%. When the correct answer ratio is 50%, the questiondata extracting unit 34 extracts questions that are the same level asthe questions answered in the created question sheet, from the questiondata 27 d. Alternatively, the questions incorrectly answered can bereplaced with similar questions at the equivalent level extracted fromthe question data 27 d.

If the control unit 12 determines that the newly extracted question canbe printed in a blank area 57 on the question sheet 51 (YES in S32), aprompt for reload of the question sheet 51 appears (S33).

FIG. 11 shows an example display screen 21 prompting the teacher toreload the question sheet 51. Referring to FIG. 11, the display screen21 includes an inquiry message 66 “Additional questions can be printedin the blank area of the question sheet. Will you reload the questionsheet?”, a selection key 67 a that is labeled “YES” and used to selectthe loaded question sheet 51 for printing when pressed, and a selectionkey 67 b that is labeled “NO” and used to select a sheet of paperaccommodated in a paper feed cassette 16, which is a new sheet of paper,for printing when pressed. The teacher loads the question sheet 51 withthe answers already filled in, for example, into the manual feed tray 23and presses the selection key 67 a. When the question sheet 51 is loadedagain (YES in S34), the newly extracted question is printed on theloaded question sheet 51 (S35).

FIG. 12 shows the question sheet 51 with the newly extracted questionprinted thereon. Referring to FIG. 12, a question section 54 d is newlycreated and printed in the blank area 57. An answer section 55 b isprovided under the question section 54 b, and an answering time field 56b is provided at the upper right with respect to the answer section 55b. The answers 58 a to 58 c, which have been already written, remain thesame. In addition, the answers 58 a to 58 c are marked.

On the other hand, if, in S34, the teacher presses the selection key 67b without loading the question sheet 51 (NO in S34), the newly extractedquestion is formed into an image and printed on a new sheet of paperaccommodated in the paper feed cassette 16 (S36).

If it is determined that there is no learning time left in S29 (NO inS29), the results are stored in the hard disk 17 and the process isterminated. Specifically, data relating to the correct/incorrectdetermination and some other information are stored in the learninghistory data 27 c, and the data is utilized to extract questions whenthe learner studies the next time. If the multifunction peripheral 11does not receive a request for another question (No in S30), the processis also terminated.

The multifunction peripheral 11 configured as described above can readthe question sheet with answers filled in, extracts characters by OCR,and determine if the answers are correct or incorrect. In accordancewith the results of correct/incorrect determination, questions areextracted anew from the question data 27 d in the hard disk 17 to createa question sheet 51. Since the correct/incorrect determination and otheroperations are performed after the answerer has been identified,question sheets tailored to the individuals can be created. In addition,the results of correct/incorrect determination are accumulated in theform of data, and are used to manage answerers. Thus, efficient creationof question sheets and various types of learner management can beachieved.

In this example, the question data extracting unit 34 is configured toextract more questions of a higher difficulty level when the ratio ofcorrect answers determined by the correct/incorrect determining unit 33is higher, thereby creating question sheets more suitable to thelearning level of learners.

Also in this example, the question data extracting unit 34 is configuredto extract questions from the question data based on the time left forwriting the answers on the question sheet 51, and therefore the learningtime can be efficiently used.

Also in this example, the question sheet image data forming unit 35 isconfigured to create image data of a question sheet 51 with a questionarranged in the blank area 57, and therefore the sheet can be used witha minimum of wasted space.

In the above-described embodiment, the question data extracting unit 34can be configured to extract questions of the same difficulty level fromthe question data in accordance with the size of the blank area on thequestion sheet 51. This can save the paper and achieve a more efficientuse of blank areas.

Although in the above-described embodiment, the display screen 21displays improperly written answers to prompt the teacher to correctthem; however the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and theimproperly written answers can be subjected to correction or otheroperations using a display device (not shown) connected via the networkinterface unit 18.

Although the personal ID is entered through the display screen 21 in theabove-described embodiment, the present disclosure is not limitedthereto, and the multifunction peripheral 11 can be configured toinclude an ID card information reading unit that reads information onpersonal ID cards. This configuration can save time and manpower toinput personal ID.

In addition, reading the question sheet with answers filled in isoperated by a teacher or instructor in the above-described embodiment;however, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and a student ofregular schools or cram schools, that is a learner, can perform thecorrect/incorrect determination step.

In the above-described embodiments, the answering time filled in on thequestion sheet can be used to affect questions to be extracted.Specifically speaking, for example, if a learner answers a questioncorrectly in a short answering time, the question is regarded as a veryeasy question for the learner. When creating the question sheet again, aquestion similar to the question of the other field requiring a longtime to answer may be extracted.

It should be understood that the embodiment disclosed herein isillustrative and non-restrictive in every respect. The scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than bythe foregoing description, and is intended to include any modificationswithin the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

The image forming apparatus according to the present disclosure can beeffectively used especially to meet a demand for the efficient creationof question sheets and various types of management of learners.

What is claimed is:
 1. An image forming apparatus capable of forming animage of a question sheet comprising: an image forming unit that formsimages based on image data; an answerer identifying unit that identifiesan answerer who fills in answers on a question sheet; an image readingunit that reads image data of the question sheet with answers filled inby the answerer; a character data extracting unit that extractscharacters by means of optical character recognition (OCR) from theimage data of the question sheet read by the image reading unit; astorage unit that stores question data including a plurality ofquestions of different difficulty levels; a correct/incorrectdetermining unit that determines the answers filled in on the questionsheet as correct or incorrect based on the characters extracted by thecharacter data extracting unit; a question data extracting unit thatextracts a plurality of questions from the question data stored in thestorage unit in accordance with the ratio of correct answers determinedby the correct/incorrect determining unit, for each of the answerersidentified by the answerer identifying unit; a question sheet image datacreating unit that creates image data of the question sheet with thequestions, which are extracted from the question data by the questiondata extracting unit, arranged on the question sheet; and an imageformation control unit that performs control operations to form an imageusing the image forming unit based on the image data of the questionsheet created by the question sheet image data creating unit.
 2. Theimage forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the question dataextracting unit extracts more questions of a higher difficulty levelfrom the question data when the ratio of correct answers determined bythe correct/incorrect determining unit is higher.
 3. The image formingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the question data extractingunit extracts questions from the question data based on time left forfilling in answers on the question sheet.
 4. The image forming apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the question sheet image data creatingunit creates image data of the question sheet with the questionsarranged in a blank area of the question sheet.
 5. The image formingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the question data extractingunit extracts questions of the same difficulty level from the questiondata in accordance with the size of the blank area on the questionsheet.
 6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1, furthercomprising an ID card information reading unit that reads information onan ID card, wherein the answerer identifying unit identifies theanswerer based on the information on the ID card read by the ID cardinformation reading unit.